Brett Petersen Kiwi Fertiliser and Golden Bay Dolomite

We, at Kiwi Fertiliser have no problem at all growing clover – whether it is red or white. Nor do we need GE to do so.

There is ample evidence that GE produces inferior food worldwide, causing more problems than it solves.

In addition, soil fertility is declining slowly but surely on most properties worldwide because it is driven by corporations, or co-ops that behave like corporations. They have their own interests, not the farmers' interests in mind.

We haven't scratched the surface regarding increased production and profit, yet GE is seen by some as a magic bullet. There are no magic bullets.

I've measured pasture production for many years now. On one farm I fertilised, the increase was 48 per cent during five years. They couldn't afford to fertilise the whole farm each year, but still attained 9.6 per cent per annum while not reaching anything like full potential. The best flats produced 21,000 kg/ha while the worst were about 15,000, rolling was 19,000 and steep hills made 9000. Soil quality was not great. Clover was generally about 30 per cent of the sward except for February, when it was 60 per cent as grass growth declined.

Another farm fertilised by Kiwi Fertiliser was measured by DairyNZ. This time, it was pasture eaten on rolling country which rose from 11,500 kg/ha to 14,100 kg/ha – an annual increase during three years of 7.5 per cent, including the 2013 drought. More is yet to come. Nor is it just about dry matter.

Pasture quality and stock health have both improved. We don't need GE clover. We need to get the best out of what we have, by working with nature, not against it.

Clover and other legumes require five factors to fix free nitrogen from the air:

1. Appropriate calcium and magnesium per cent as measured on the base saturation.
2. Available phosphorus (not excess P).
3. Available iron.
4. Cobalt.
5. Molybdenum.

Unfortunately, most soil tests I see show deficits or excesses of calcium; deficits of magnesium and cobalt; and excesses of P and Mo. If your Mg is not up to scratch, you will require up to 50 per cent more bagged nitrogen to get the same results; so these things are important.

You will not get the same results by using the cheapest fertiliser either. Cheapest is not best. Cheapest is actually the costliest.

Mag oxide and serpentine will not build Mg in the soil in the vast majority of cases. This manifests itself year after year in animal health issues, particularly around calving, costing the industry millions of dollars annually in lost revenue.

Further, the correct Ca:Mg percentage greatly mitigates the effects of drought, making white clovers shallow root system a virtual non-issue.

However, potassium and zinc are also involved in water use efficiency. Frequently, these two nutrients are below par.

I changed my wicked ways many years ago. Many years before that, I stopped adding red clover seed into seed mixes. It was a waste of time. One of the first observations after changing fertility practices was of red clover proliferation. The grazing management was unchanged.

A 5600kg/ha crop of red clover requires 315kg of N, 30kg of P, 225kg of K, 135kg of Ca, 35kg of Mg and 28kg of S. That's just for 5.6 tonne/ha. Some soil experts maintain there is no such thing as calcium deficiency in NZ soils. Evidence we see tells us otherwise; and we don't have any problems growing red clover and grazing it.

This crop of red clover and ryegrass is not one of Kiwi Fertilisers'. There was not a single bee to be seen or heard as the crop energy is lacking. Crops grown by Kiwi Fertiliser are covered in bees that produce copious quantities of honey and are the fattest bees beekeepers have seen.